Striking mechanism for automatic piano-players.



No. 725,676, PATENTED APR, 21, 1903.

' W. F. COOPER.

STRIKING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PIANO PLAYERS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1902.

NO MODEL.

WITNESSES: I KINVENTOR W J3 Z I wceam fSouflu. 72 Tfi w' 11- 'YATTO'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM F. COOPER, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO OLIVERTURNEY, OF FAIRFIELD, CONNECTICUT.

STRIKING MECHANISM FOR AUTOMATIC PIANO-PLAYERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 725,676, dated. April21, 1903.

Application filed April 17, 1902. 7 Serial No. 103,398. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM F. COOPER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inStriking Mechanism for Automatic Piano-Players; and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to automatic pianoplayers, but more particularlyhas reference to the striking mechanism which is controlled by theoperation of the pneumatics.

The object of my invention is to bring the action immediately over thekeyboard, so that the line of striking is direct, and therefore themethod of striking the keys is nearer the motion of the human finger inpianoforte playing, the result being that there is an absence of anautomatic or mechanical expression so common to piano-players.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this application,Figure 1 is a broken sectional elevation illustrating my improvement,and Fig. 2 a detail broken sectional elevation illustrating the mannerof pivoting the strikers.

Similar numerals of reference denote like parts in both figures of thedrawings.

My present improvement has nothing whatever to do with the regulationand control of the supply and exhaust of air with respect to thepneumatics, and therefore I will enter into no description of suchsupply and eX haust, since it is deemed sufficient for all practicalpurposes to state that the pneumatics respond to any suitable method ofexhausting and supplying air, and I have in my present inventionutilized the mechanical movements of the pneumatics in their collapseand recovery for the purposes of my improvement.

1 designatesa pneumatic for controlling the striking mechanism for awhite key, and 2 designates a pneumatic. of controlling the strikingmechanism of a black key.

3 is a striking-lever provided with the usual felt hammer 4, which leveris pivoted at its front end to astationary part 5 of the attachment. Themanner of pivoting these levers is peculiar, and I will describe thesame in detail. Through the front end of the lever is a conical-shapedopening 6, and secured to the bottom of the stationary part 5 is aconical-shaped protuberance 7. A screw. 8 is passed from the bottomloosely through the opening 6, and driven within said protuberance andstationary part and interposed between the protuberance and the leverand between the protuberance and the head of the screw are felt washers9 10, respectively. The conical-shaped opening 6' permits the lever torock freely in that there canbe no binding of the lever against thescrew, and

also said lever is capable of a very quick action and recovery.

11 is a rod secured at its upper end to the pneumatic 1 and extendingdownward in a vertical plane through guide-openings 12 13 in stationaryparts of the attachment. The lower extremity of this rod is secured inany suitable manner to the extreme rear end of the lever 3, so that itwill be clear that the latter will respond to any vertical movement ofsaid rod.

The hammer 4 is directly over a white key 14, and as the pneumaticcollapses and recovers the rod will reciprocate and thereby cause thelever to operate, whereby the key 14 will be struck by the hammer 4..

The striking mechanism for the black keys is constructed and operated inprecisely the same manner as in the instance of the white keys, andtherefore further detail descriptionin this respect will be superfluous.I-

will' merely state that I have illustrated a portion of one of theselevers 15, which is pivoted to a protuberance 16, that is secured to theunder side of a stationary part of the attachment, this lever beingprovided with a felt hammer 17, that is immediately above a black key18, and that this lever is operated from the pneumatic tube in preciselythe same manner as in the instance of the lever 3.

I have only illustrated two of the pneumatics; but of course it will beclear that there are as many of these pneumatics as there are black andwhite keys to be struck, and this simple illustration avoids thenecessity of duplicating a great many parts that are all pre- ICO Itwill thus be clear from the foregoing description that my improvedstriking mechanism is directly over the keyboard of a pianoforte andthat the striking is direct. Moreover, the employment of levers that arepivoted at one end and are connected at the other end with thestriking-rods that operate directly over the keyboard enables me to doaway to a considerable degree with the automatic and mechanicalexpression that is so characteristic of piano-players.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a striking mechanism for automatic piano-players, the combinationof the pneumatics, the striking-levers pivoted at their front ends to astationary element and carrying hammers at points intermediate theirlength and arranged over the keys of the pianoforte, and the verticalstriking-rods se cured at their upper extremities to the pneumatics andhaving their lower ends connected with the rear extremities of saidlevers directly over the piano-keyboard, substantially 25 as set forth.n

2. A striking mechanism for automatic piano-playersmomprisinghorizontally-disposed levers'carrying hammers, said leverspivoted at their front ends to a stationary element 0 age for operatingthe keys, substantially as 5 set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' WILLIAM F. COOPER.

Witnesses:

W. SMITH, J r., T. LONGDEN.

